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Novartis Drug Gets Approval
In EU to Treat Eye Disease

a Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter

Updated Jan. 25, 2007 12:01 a.m. ET

Novartis AG's eye drug Lucentis received marketing approval in the European Union for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in elderly people. Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis said Lucentis, which needs to be injected into the eyes, is the first drug that has been shown to improve vision in a significant number of people suffering from the disease. Currently available therapies, including Novartis's own drug Visudyne, only slow the decline in vision. Lucentis has been approved in Switzerland, India and the...